QNAP HDMI vs "Set-Top-Box"

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DarfNader
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QNAP HDMI vs "Set-Top-Box"

Post by DarfNader »

If you have used your QNAP NAS as your media player, this question is for YOU!

What I am wrangling in my head is deciding to set up a media server on my QNAP TVS-473 natively OR buying a separate media server or "set-top-box" like the ** NVidia shield, the faithful Roku, or "bad or just misunderstood" Apple TV? Assume for this discussion that the user (that's me) has an iPad dedicated to being a universal remote control, so having a bad-** set of bluetooth controllers like what the Shield offers is not necessary for the purposes of this discussion. What it boils down to is:

1) How hard would it be to get a media player like Kodi, or (even better) Plex Home Theatre (or whatever they call their media center now) running natively on QTS* for someone who is really new to this stuff? (And I do mean new.) I have read in other channels how Kodi is no longer directly supported by QNAP which is why it is not an available app in the "store", but there is mention of "sideloading" it, which of course I have no idea how to do. I have worked as a sysadmin/devops for two decades so with an infinite amount of time I probably could figure anything out, but it is probably better for my relationship status if I spent less time tinkering with technology and occasionally actually watching a movie with her.

2) Would running a media server on the NAS be "harder" to deal with from a usability standpoint once everything is set up? What I mean is, say my girlfriend, who already is terrified by the complexity of the stack of components by the TV, picked up the iPad remote control and turned on the system, is it reasonable to expect that the media center would be reliably invoked by a remote command and then be easy to navigate, or is there a chance that she may end up looking at a login prompt instead and have no idea what to do?

3) Is the A/V quality/capabilities going to be roughly the same as the Shield or similar Android set top box? My expectations are simply to get 60 HZ over 1080p as well as provide 5.1 channel audio, or 7.1 if available. This looks like it's a "yes" assuming that I run the media player natively on QTS and not a VM.

While having all of the bells and whistles that having a super-polished Android STB offers is certainly nice, I don't really need it as much as I need a reliable media player that is easy to navigate, is reliable, won't crap out on codecs that would work just fine on an STB running Kodi. After dropping an entire paycheck on this NAS, the drives, memory, etc... I really would rather not spend another $200-$400 on a new media player. I already have a Roku 3 and an Apple TV 3 so I can always fall back on using those, but it would be nice to use something that was a lot more current if just to enjoy a more responsive interface. The Roku has proven to be the most reliable player ever, but it shows its age by how slowly it takes to load the "channels" (apps).

Thanks in advance for any help and insights!

* - Trexx already pointed out that were I to use the NAS to play video, the graphics acceleration would only be supported natively and but not if I attempted to, say, create a VM to be my med
"Everything I know I've learned from eating the brains of other people." - anon.

TVS-473
• FW v 4.6.3.0883 build 20190316
• 32 GB RAM
• 4 x 6TB SATA , RAID 5
• 2 x 1 TB m2.SSD, RAID 1 (QTier)
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Trexx
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Re: QNAP HDMI vs "Set-Top-Box"

Post by Trexx »

1) About 30 seconds to install Kodi, not much longer for Plex Media Player client for HD Station. Both apps are supported by Community versions, which is just a manual install (point and click - a lot simpler than android side loading). If you use the Plex Media Server for remote access, you may just want to use either KODI with Plex Add-on, or PMP for your client. That way everything is sync'd to the Plex DB backend.

2) With the remote that comes with the QNAP, it makes using Kodi / Plex Media Player pretty straight forward. You can even set an app to autorun in HD Station so that when you switch on, then you would be in Kodi or PMP. You will need to login the first time you use HD Station, but you can have it save password when you do so it doesn't prompt again.

3) Nvidia Shield TV and some of the other set-top boxes may have some extra 4k / audio capabilities that that the QNAP doesn't, but in terms of 1080p playback 5.1/7.1 playback they both will handle that fine. Beside 4k capibilties, the other big difference would be having things like netflix, amazon prime, vudu, etc. on the set top boxes.

QNAP will handle Kodi just fine, and you can use either physical remote, qremote iOS app, kodi remote iOS app, etc. to run it.
Paul

Model: TS-877-1600 FW: 4.5.3.x
QTS (SSD): [RAID-1] 2 x 1TB WD Blue m.2's
Data (HDD): [RAID-5] 6 x 3TB HGST DeskStar
VMs (SSD): [RAID-1] 2 x1TB SK Hynix Gold
Ext. (HDD): TR-004 [Raid-5] 4 x 4TB HGST Ultastor
RAM: Kingston HyperX Fury 64GB DDR4-2666
UPS: CP AVR1350

Model:TVS-673 32GB & TS-228a Offline[/color]
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DarfNader
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Re: QNAP HDMI vs "Set-Top-Box"

Post by DarfNader »

Trexx wrote:1) About 30 seconds to install Kodi, not much longer for Plex Media Player client for HD Station. Both apps are supported by Community versions, which is just a manual install (point and click - a lot simpler than android side loading). If you use the Plex Media Server for remote access, you may just want to use either KODI with Plex Add-on, or PMP for your client. That way everything is sync'd to the Plex DB backend.
Dang, well that settles that. After a searching Google for all of 15 seconds I found this: https://www.qnapclub.eu/index.php?act=d ... pkg_id=405 Do you know if this is a site that's legit or should I be wary of it?

I was aware of how Kodi ran Plex but I guess I assumed that was more about the fact the OS it was one was Android and it was just running the version that was otherwise installed, likewise with Netflix, Amazon, etc...
Trexx wrote:12) With the remote that comes with the QNAP, it makes using Kodi / Plex Media Player pretty straight forward. You can even set an app to autorun in HD Station so that when you switch on, then you would be in Kodi or PMP. You will need to login the first time you use HD Station, but you can have it save password when you do so it doesn't prompt again.
That's perfect, and pretty much what I was going for. Speaking of which, and I realize this is a digression, but I have been doing everything as the Admin account. I tried to create a personal account with admin privileges but I ran into some issues regarding permissions which I assume are because certain functions can only be done as the literal Admin account, not just by being granted all privileges. The point is, I assume that under normal operation, I can use a much less privileged account to run the media player.

Also, if I may digress again, even while I am running a media center with Kodi on HDMI1, is it possible to have the other HDMI port present the equivalent of a console (in the classic Unix sense of a console) so that I could plug in a USB keyboard and have a command line?
Trexx wrote:3) Nvidia Shield TV and some of the other set-top boxes may have some extra 4k / audio capabilities that that the QNAP doesn't, but in terms of 1080p playback 5.1/7.1 playback they both will handle that fine. Beside 4k capibilties, the other big difference would be having things like netflix, amazon prime, vudu, etc. on the set top boxes.
As in #1, I had already assumed that those players were not available. You had my hopes up for a second when you pointed out Kodi can run Plex, but alas, that doesn't mean it can run those other streaming apps. Oh well. Anyway, I do have 3 other devices that will use those apps so it's not heartbreaker, but it would have been pretty amazing to have it all in one.
Trexx wrote:QNAP will handle Kodi just fine, and you can use either physical remote, qremote iOS app, kodi remote iOS app, etc. to run it.
Cool, I have been using Simple Remote but since the company that makes it is completely insane, I now need to find a new universal remote tool to reprogram. I hear iRule is pretty nice too, but I guess the more you want it to do, the more the set-up!

Thanks again for the advice! The weekend is finally here so I can actually start working with it! Woohoo!
"Everything I know I've learned from eating the brains of other people." - anon.

TVS-473
• FW v 4.6.3.0883 build 20190316
• 32 GB RAM
• 4 x 6TB SATA , RAID 5
• 2 x 1 TB m2.SSD, RAID 1 (QTier)
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